Credit Union Times Magazine June-25, 2008
News
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CUNA Survey: Shrinking Budgets Call for Versatile Pay Options
MADISON, Wis. -- A new CUNA report finds that variable-pay programs are gaining momentum at credit unions.
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Coastal Federal CU Reaches $2 Billion Asset Mark by Adding $139 Million This Year
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Coastal Federal Credit Union is now among the 45 largest credit unions in the country as it has surpassed $2 billion in assets.
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NAFCU Services Adds SAS to Preferred List
WASHINGTON -- NAFCU Services Corp. has added business intelligence software giant SAS to its list of Preferred Partners.
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VanSickler, a CU Veteran, Joins LenderLive Network
DENVER -- LenderLive Network Inc. has hired a credit union veteran to manage the marketing efforts for the outsourcing and technology provider's retail business channel.
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Three CUs Sign With Student Loan CUSO
WASHINGTON -- Members of three more credit unions will have access to private student loans through Credit Union Student Choice, a CUSO launched in early May.
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Fed Districts Report Soft Commercial Loan Activity
WASHINGTON -- While some cities have reported modest or stalled commercial real estate activity, overall, the landscape continues to be soft, according to the Federal Reserve Board's Beige Book.
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GAO, NAFCU Fault Tax Preparers for RAL Marketing Methods
WASHINGTON -- NAFCU sees more money for credit union members, and Congress' investigative arm sees a better deal for consumers.
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BestSource CU Mourns Loss of Board Member
WATERFORD, Mich. -- BestSource Credit Union announced the death of Ludger Beauvais, a member of its board of directors.
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Carolina FCU Uses New Software From Tech Veterans to Manage Knowledge
CHERRYVILLE, N.C. -- Donna Beringer knows the value of institutional memory and is using technology to secure with software what's often kept only in gray matter at many organizations.
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Connecticut Gains Shared Brancher As Connex CU Joins the Pack
ATLANTA, Ga. -- Shared branching has picked up another CU; this time in Connecticut.
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KeyPoint CU, Using Facebook, Leads Way in the New Wave of Service Channels
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- What riles Juli Ann Callis is not all the people she's hearing from about her credit union's groundbreaking presence on social utility giant Facebook, it's who she's not hearing from.
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Interchange Bill Has New Senate Sponsor
WASHINGTON -- Retailers are celebrating the addition of another Senate sponsor for a federal bill that could severely curtail card interchange income.
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Midwest Cleanup Begins for Flooded CUs, Some With Traumatic Tales
DES MOINES, Iowa -- About 20 Iowa credit unions in four of the state's biggest cities spent a harrowing week as victims of the worst Midwest flooding in 100 years, grappling with water damage, branch closings and service disruption across a wide swath.
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SBA Assesses Damage in Water-Logged Iowa, Indiana; Defends Assistance
WASHINGTON -- The Small Business Administration said it is ready to assist businesses impacted by the flooding that soaked Iowa and other Midwestern states.
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Debbie Matz Moves On From Andrews Federal
SUITLAND, Md. -- Former NCUA Board Member Debbie Matz has exited her post as executive vice president/chief operating officer at Andrews Federal Credit Union.
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NCUA Board Seeks Input on Member Business Loan Rules
WASHINGTON -- Credit unions that want more leeway in offering member business loans will have the opportunity to express their thoughts to the NCUA.
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Pentagon FCU Issues Member Bill of Rights
ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Pentagon Federal Credit Union issued a members' bill of rights at its annual meeting. The bill of rights assures members that the credit union will not make any organization change that is not in its members best interests.
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First Basin Member Calls for Investigation in Letter of Complaint
ODESSA , Texas -- In response to the First Basin Credit Union annual meeting at which three incumbent directors' were re-elected, a First Basin member filed a letter of complaint with Texas Credit Union Department Commissioner Harold Feeney calling for investigation into the meeting and the credit unions attempt to...
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Credit Union 24 Opens Door for New Members Into Alaskan Network
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Credit Union 24 has made a deal with an organization of both Alaskan credit unions and banks to start marketing its services to its members.
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New Service Audits Staff, Volunteer Card Accounts
HARRISBURG, Pa. -- The Pennsylvania Credit Union Association has launched a program to audit credit union staff and employees' credit card accounts.
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NARFE Premier Uses Portable iSwitchKit to Sign Up New Members on the Go
ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- There are more than just socks in that suitcase credit union types tote to those federal workers' meetings.
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Filene Receives Underbanked Grant
MADISON, Wis. -- The Filene Research Institute and the Doorway to Dreams Fund has received a grant from the Center for Financial Services Innovation to pilot an innovation aimed at increasing the savings rate among underbanked consumers.
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Williams Honored by California and Nevada Youth Involvement Network
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. -- Jeff Williams, member education director at $1.7 billion Educational Employees Credit Union, has been selected to receive this year's California and Nevada Youth Involvement Network. The prize includes a trip to this summer's National Youth Involvement board's annual conference in Las Vegas.
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Affinity FCU Raffles N.Y.C. Weekend
BASKING RIDGE, N.J. -- The Affinity Federal Credit Union Foundation has found a creative way to raise funds to benefit the group of nonprofit organizations it supports-- raffling off a New York City weekend trip for two.
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Members United Hires Petty To Drum Up New Clients
WARRENVILLE, Ill. -- Members United Corporate has hired California-based former CUNA brokerage representative Jay Petty to fill the $13.8 billion corporate's new senior business consultant position. Prior to his stint with CUNA, Petty was president/CEO of $12 billion Pentagon Federal Credit Union's financial services subsidiary.
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Massachusetts Credit Union Counsels Homeowners, Regardless of Lender
LOWELL, Mass. -- NMTW Community Credit Union dedicated the month of May to foreclosure prevention awareness.
Front Page News
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Wescom CU Bows to Baby Boomers By Now Offering Reverse Mortgages
PASADENA, Calif. -- Wescom Credit Union is the latest to jump on the reverse mortgage bandwagon, launching the increasingly popular product on June 1.
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Credit Unions Work Creatively to Deal With Growth in Member Bankruptcies
WASHINGTON -- One of the most dreaded phone calls consumers can receive is from a collections department, especially during an economic slowdown when more people are stretching their finances and teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.
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CUNA Mutual Pilot Cracks a Tough Nut: Cross Selling Indirect Auto Borrowers
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- A CUNA Mutual Group pilot project found that credit unions that call indirect borrowers to offer other services and build relationships can reap promising results.
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First Entertainment Web Site Posts anOpen Call for Virtual Personal Assistants
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- First Entertainment Credit Union has gone Hollywood and is giving members a chance to audition their own virtual personal assistant on its newly revamped Web site (www.firstent.org).
News Briefs
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Donations
GESA Credit Union, Richland, Wash., raised over $4,000 in support of Junior Achievement. GESA's goal was to raise $3,500. The fundraiser theme was Circus Bowl with bowling teams opting to dress up as circus characters. The two top individual fundraisers were team captains Tracy Rodriguez, who raised $275, and Crystal...
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Mich. League Beefs Up Government Affairs Staff
LANSING, Mich. -- The Michigan Credit Union League is making three additions to its lobbying staff.
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Jack Henry Enhances Scanning Recognition
MONETT, Mo. -- The RemitPlus enterprise payment system from Jack Henry and Associates now offers enhanced data completion, helping to automate the input of such things as handwritten text.
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Board Volunteers Will Get Education in Governance
ARLINGTON, Va. -- Given the increasing regulatory emphasis on corporate governance and how directors carry out their responsibilities, NASCUS announced its series of Directors Colleges led by former and current regulator faculty from across the country.
Facilities
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UW CU Snatches Vacant Store to Expand
MADISON, Wis. -- University of Wisconsin Credit Union has recently purchased the vacant Brennan's Market on Northport Drive for future expansion.
Regulatory/Compliance
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NCUA Activates Disaster Relief In the Three Flood-Ridden States
WASHINGTON -- Encouraging credit unions to make special provisions to expedite the loan-approval process and liberalize the terms of some of those loans are parts of the disaster-relief policy activated by NCUA in response to the storms and tornadoes in Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin.
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NAFCU, Mortgage Brokers Fight HUD Disclosure Proposals
WASHINGTON -- Requiring lenders to include additional information about the lending process on the good faith estimate form would only serve to further complicate the mortgage process, according to two interested parties.
Opinions
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Corporate Credit Unions Weigh In on Variety of Noninterest Income Strategies
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Despite different products and services, and operating on much thinner margins, the noninterest income of corporates varies as much as their natural person counterparts.
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LAFCU Starts Home Search, Rebate Service
LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Federal Credit Union is encouraging its members to take advantage of low home prices and interest rates by offering a home buying service and a rebate on the Realtor's commission.
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Polish and Slavic FCU Keeps on Truckin' by Taking Services on the Road
BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- If members cannot easily visit Polish and Slavic Federal Credit Union, the CU will go to the members.
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INDIRECT: Phone Outreach Pilot Builds Relationships and Business
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- A CUNA Mutual Group pilot project found that credit unions that call indirect borrowers to offer other services and build relationships can reap promising results.
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No Dancing in the Street: Billion-Dollar CUs Membership Dips as ROA Shimmies
MADISON, Wis. -- More than two dozen billion-dollar credit unions reported a drop in membership in the first quarter even as the movement continued to grow its overall base.
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CUs Can Provide Insurance Needs if They Are Looking in the Right Places
DALLAS -- When offering insurance to the Latino community and underserved a workshop at the conference on serving the underserved highlighted specific needs credit unions need to examine as many members of those communities have never had insurance before.
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Cha-Ching! CUs, Members Benefit From a Coin Program
In today's fast-paced, financially focused world, it is becoming increasingly difficult to reach out to others in a meaningful way. Since credit unions exist for the betterment of their members, they have an especially keen motive to find and maintain a real and relevant connection between the institution and its...
Editor-in-Chief's Column
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Data Shows Latino Community Young and Growing
DALLAS -- Barbara Robles, associate professor at Arizona State University and Ann Baddour, senior policy analyst at Texas Appleseed provided attendees at the conference on serving the underserved with information they had collected on the financial services needs of the Latino community.
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Funny Politics: Two Senators Walk Into a Bank
Politics is a funny game to watch, probably even more bizarre from the inside.
On-Site Conference Coverage
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Message at Finance Summit: Human Needs Come First
QUEBEC -- Cliff Rosenthal, president/CEO of the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions addressed over 150 delegates from five different continents that attended the World Social Finance Summit saying that now is the time to bring the credit union message to Americans.
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Immigration, Membership and Opportunity: How CUs Can Serve the Underserved
DALLAS -- The leadership forum at the conference on serving the underserved provided ways to serve the underserved and examples of already existing projects that have made strides in serving that community.
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CUs Need to Diversify Offerings
DALLAS -- With reports showing that hate crimes against immigrants have been up since 2004, Janice Bowdler, associate director of National Council of La Raza and George Hofhiemer, chief research officer at the Filene Institute, discussed public policy as it related to credit unions serving immigrant communities at the National...
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Speakers Urge CUs to Keep Service Simple When Serving New Americans
DALLAS -- Linda Armyn, vice president of corporate development and government affairs at Bethpage Federal Credit Union and Carolyn Merchan Saegert, legislative and compliance counsel at the Texas Credit Union League delivered the message that serving new Americans is simple.
People
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People
EAST
From the Board Room
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Future Universal 1 CU Board Members?
DAYTON, Ohio -- Here is something you don't see everyday in a credit union boardroom.
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Three CEOs to Corporate Central Board
MUSKEGO, Wis. -- Three credit union CEOs--Altra FCU's Gerald A. Forsythe, Fox Communities CU's Greg A. Hilbert, and CoVantage CU's Brian J. Prunty--were elected Corporate Central CU board directors.
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Officer to Serve and Protect on CU Board
SAN DIEGO -- City of Carlsbad Police Sergeant Bruce May has been appointed to complete a one-year term on the credit union's board.
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Members United Corporate Names Board
WARRENVILLE, Ill. --- A handful of directors were re-elected to three-year terms during the Members United Corporate Federal Credit Union annual meeting.
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